When it’s your turn, take the vaccine.

It is safe.

It is remarkably effective.

It is the answer to defeating the COVID-19 pandemic and getting our lives back to normal.

We commend Gov. Brian Kemp, Department of Public Health head Kathleen Toomey and other state leaders for agreeing to be vaccinated in public to help build confidence.

The Pfizer vaccine is being rolled out across the nation, including throughout Georgia, and more is on the way.

It is true that most of the general public will not have access for months but health care workers, first responders and some elderly and fragile populations will have early access.

We think State Sen. Ben Watson set a great example and showed real leadership when he participated in the Moderna clinical trials. The Isle of Hope lawmaker is a primary doctor and chairs the Health and Human Services Committee. Watson said he decided to take part in the clinical trials both to set an example for his patients and protect them when they are seeking medical care.

He struck the right tone when he said, “We as health care workers have a responsibility to our patients. They do not expect to get sick from us. So it’s not all about me. Because in health care, when you’re working in a hospital or you’re seeing people in the clinic, they don’t want to catch COVID from you.”

In reality, none of us want to catch COVID from anyone else.

We think the gestures of leading by example are exactly the right thing to do in order to build confidence in the vaccine.

Before being vaccinated herself, Toomey said, “I can say with great enthusiasm, I can’t wait to be vaccinated. I’m so looking forward to that opportunity and I hope that we can convey that same desire to people throughout Georgia, because until we can vaccinate as many Georgians as possible, we will not have the level of immunity within the state as a whole, to prevent the continued spread.”

The effort to lead by example is not partisan and COVID-19 isn’t either.

Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers are working to build public trust in the vaccine.

Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence all volunteered to take the vaccine on camera to use their high-profile positions to gain confidence of the general public.

Dr. Ben Loman, one of the state’s infectious disease epidemiologists, said a few days ago, “These vaccines have gone through the same safety and efficacy testing that any vaccine would go through. They first start in these small trials to show that they’re first safe and get larger and larger trials to show people have an immune response and finally these very large scale ones that we’ve been hearing over the last month showing how really remarkably effective these vaccines are. Although the timeline has been short, it’s not because any steps have been skipped. I think it’s really important for people to know that.”

The vaccines were developed with a speed that had nothing to do with cutting corners, or rushing the process. It had everything to do with new technologies and amazing advances in medicine and science. 

When it’s your turn, please take the vaccine. 

It is how we all get through this crisis and put an end to this year-long disruption of our lives.